Summer Maiden
by Vindexian
Summary: Yang's been arrested, and Cinder is one step closer to her goal of obtaining the Fall Maiden's power. It's not over for our favorite blonde brawler. Raven decided to step in and rescue her daughter. So she sent one of her trusted friends and companion to spring her from her prison. The catch? Everyone thinks she's dead, while she tries to master her new powers from her mother. AU
1. Prologue

**Hello, everyone. It's me. Vindex! I'm still stuck in this god damn hospital bed, which sucks because there's not much to do, and when I get bored, I like to pace. But seeing the state of my legs, that's not possible. So I figured I write a new story, since some of my notes for my stories are back in my place... In a desk... Which is locked... And the only key was busted when I got into the crash.**

 **-.-#**

 ***Sigh***

 **I need to hire an assistant or something in the future... Or at the very least order two more keys in the future. Alright, so I saw the newest episode of RWBY, and now we got some background on Mercury and Emerald. And *Spoilers* the second I saw Merc's legs after the bottom portion of his pants got burned off, I could help but think A) Mercury's Dad is an asshole if he caused that, B) Mercury got bonus points for being an assasin's kid, and C) Clever girl, Cinder. Have Yang break his robo-limbs, but don't disclose that fact they're robo-limbs. Anyways, let's go over a few things. There is an OC in here of my own creation. I'm basing his appearance and (somewhat) attitude on myself. Next, a biggy. I'm making a someone in the show a maiden. The Summer Maiden to be precise. Someone who hasn't been show much of from Team STRQ. And finally, I'm making my own assumptions about what Cinder's plan is with the General's army, Penny and the Maiden. And now, the OC:**

 ** _Name: Canderous Sevar_**

 ** _Age: 23_**

 ** _Personality: Cold; Distant towards Strangers; Anti-Social; Caring in His Own Way; Determined; Persistent in a task, preferring to see it done down to the bitter end; Honorable_**

 ** _Race: Human_**

 ** _Appearance: Dark brown hair that's not that long on the back, but long enough to cover an eye in the front; Sky blue eyes; 5'11; Deep Voice (on a scale of 1-10, it's a 9); a T-shirt that's either black and reads 'Sarcasm: One of the Many Services I Offer' (Everyday T-shirt) or grey with a skull on the front (Battle); Black Tennis Shoes; Navy Blue Unzipped Jacket._**

 ** _Weapons: Dual Pistols (Model: DL-44) with uses two types of ammo. The first being regular .357 magnum rounds, which each clip holds 15 rounds each, with 6 spares inside his jacket. The second is a specially made cartridge that_** ** _uses dust crystal as an energy source to fire different types of bullets (Ex: A Red Crystal would shoot Bullets to set things on fire, a light blue would freeze, and a yellow would electrocute or stun). Pistol also transforms into a light sword with the same capabilities as the pistol (Think Lightsaber, but not as lethal). He can preform a slash through the air to create a slash of whatever element/Dust Crystal he has equipped through the air. Canderous calls them 'The Vindicators'._**

 ** _Semblance: Dust Crystals, able to spawn replicas of dust crystals. It's not a true crystal, but it's been adjusted to work as an 'ammo cartridge' for his pistol/sword._** ** _Can summon 3 at a time, five if you count the two in his pistol/light sword. Can be detonated by shooting directly to cause a small explosion of element stored inside the Crystal._**

 ** _History: An orphan from a village far from where Beacons lies in Vale, Canderous was taken in by an old crippled Hunteress at age 13. After locating the remains of her pistol, Canderous modified it to work with his semblance. After witnessing what Canderous did to her old pistol, the Huntress taught him how to fight on his own with 'The Vindicator'. During a brutal massacre of the village his was raised in for 18 years, a 20 year old Canderous, the lone survivor, severely thinned the numbers of the Grimm, but was exhausted. That was when the Summer Maiden appeared, and eliminated the few remaining Grimm in the area. He now follows the Summer Maiden as_** ** _her unofficial right hand man._**

 **There are two references to Star Wars in there, three if you count the Lightsaber. See if you can find them all.**

 **Also, two main differences in this story. 1) One of the two girls from STRQ is the Summer Maiden, obvious. And 2) Newspaper pairing has been established. For those of you who don't know what the Newspaper Pairing is, WeissxRubyxBlake. So, enjoy Summer Maiden (how original, I know. But it's all I got for now).**

 **Edit (1/8/16) I edited some of the story a bit, mainly the beginning, and some of the OC profile... Because it just didn't feel angsty enough, after watching the newest teaser/trailer for V3E8.**

* * *

Amity Coliseum Prison Cell

Midnight

* * *

Yang Xiao Long sat on the cell bed in a deep part of the arena, arms wrapped around legs crossed, sobbing silently as she tried to find an explanation to what happened during the Singles Round. It just didn't add up. She knows she heard Mercury threaten her, and she knows she saw him try to kick her from behind. But everyone else, even the camera's, saw something different. They saw her break Mercury's leg, unprovoked and uncalled for. After Mercury was escorted out by helicopter, she was immediately escorted by the AK-200's to a secure facility. Currently, she was being watched by an AK unit and a guard.

She started thinking back to her team's visit when they came by. Well, most of her team. Weiss didn't come to see her. She had hoped that they would believe her when she told them what happened. They didn't. Blake's words stung into Yang. 'I want to believe you.' She said, 'But I can't.'. That stung deeply. looks after the whole arrest. But Ruby? She had a look of denial and sadness. She didn't speak much when they came, but she didn't need to speak. Yang knew that her own sister didn't believe her. Her Uncle Qrow hasn't come by either, probably because he doesn't believe in her either. General Ironwood came by as well. He wanted to get a reason as to why Yang crippled Mercury. He didn't take Yang's answer as it was. So, here she was. Broken and Alone. Abandoned.

Her sobs were cut short when they heard a commotion from outside the door. Lots of yelling and gunshot type of commotion. The AK-200 aimed his rifle at the door while the guard took out his pistol as it started dying out. They heard footsteps, getting closer to the door, before it opened. The two opened fired, only to hit nothing but the wall on the other side of the next room. An arm holding a pistol extended into the room and fired three shots, hitting the guard twice, who was electrocuted and knocked out, but missing the droid. The droid aimed at the hand and opened fire as it retreated from its spot. Seconds later, man in his mid twenties rolled into the room, inserting a cartridge into his pistol before firing four times at the droid. With each hit, the droid was encased in ice, before he was completely encased.

"Hmph, I thought they'd be a bigger challenge then that." The man said as he unloaded the cartridge, as Yang saw what exactly was in it, a light blue Dust Crystal.

He pulled it out and tossed it as it disappeared from sight, before he placed it away inside his jacket and pulled out a new cartridge, this one with magnum rounds. He loaded it into his pistol, before shooting the droid. The droid was reduced to serval different pieces before the man turned his attention to the camera in the room and shot it, destroying it. He relaxed a bit, as Yang watched him nervously while he picked the knocked out guard and tossed him out of the from, before locking it.

"Yang Xiao Long?" The stranger said, as she nodded, wiping her tears, but still on guard. "Don't got a lot of time left so I'll make this quick. As we speak, Ozpin and the other headmasters are deliberating on your fate. And while he's trying to do everything to not put you in jail, the majority of them are suggesting they exile you from Vale to a disclosed location." Yang's eyes widened at her fate, as the stranger continued. "My boss and I both know you're innocent, but we can't prove it, yet. The people responsible have taken good measure to make sure they covered their tracks. My boss wants me to spring you, but you need to understand a few things." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the Ember Celicas in bracelet mode. "If you decide to come with us, I'm blowing up this room, and this room alone, to make it look like you were targeted for an assassination. You won't be able to contact anyone, we can't let the enemy know you're still alive if you join. But, you'll get some answers you've been looking for, and a chance at payback at the ones who caused this. Or you could stay here. Your choice, blondie."

Yang thought about the offer for a moment. On one hand, if she chooses to go, it would mean that she's running away. And she remember what Blake said previously, the innocent never run. But she'd have a chance to clear her name, find out who did this, and find some answer to whatever she's been looking for, according to him. But if she didn't, she'd be sent off to a distant forest with probably nothing but her clothes on her back, with no support from any of her friends and family. She knew what choice to pick.

* * *

Outside the room,

Minutes later,

* * *

AK-200 model droids and Guardsmen were surrounding the prison area as Ironwood arrived at the scene. Parts of similar model droids and unconscious men scattered around the floor.

"What's going on in there?!" Ironwood demanded from a nearby guard.

"Sir, a man just came in here, guns blazing." He answered, "He knocked out a majority of our men, before he enter the room and tossed the guard station there and sealed it." He pointed at the droids attempting to open the door. "We're moving as fast as we can to make sure that the prisoner does not escap-"

Before he could finish that sentence, an explosion of very hot plasma erupted from the room, destroying and melting several droids in the area. Ironwood was relatively unharmed, as the men and droids picked themselves up. He rushed towards the room to take a peek inside, and found the room completely destroyed. The metal bars that held Ms. Xiao Long melted, and the only thing left behind that wasn't severely destroyed was a few pieces of long blonde hair. He gazed at the empty cell.

"I want security footage of both this room and the room out here during the time the first shots were fired to now." Ironwood commanded a few of his guards, who nodded and left. He turned to face a different guard.

"Inform Headmaster Ozpin... That Yang Xiao Long has been assassinated. Killed from an explosion that melted her remains by an unknown man."

* * *

A Grimm Forest,

A few seconds after the explosion

* * *

Yang rubbed the back of her head as she glared angrily at the man in front of her, who held a few pieces of her hair.

"You can kill me later." He said coldly as he tossed it into the portal, which closed afterwards. "But leaving that behind will make them think you're dead."

He turned and started walking through a forest as Yang, still glaring, followed him.

"Who are you?" She asked her somewhat savior.

"Canderous." He answered simply. "Canderous Sevar."

They kept walking as Canderous held his pistol cocked and ready for any Grimm that maybe lurking about.

"Why did you save me?" Yang asked as she put on the Ember Celica.

"You'll see." He answered as they approached a ruined village.

They entered a hut to find a woman waiting there for them. She wore a shallow cut black dress, with five necklaces with an assortment of beads, a red girdle-belt, and a pair of matching gauntlets. Her most distinctive feature is a full-face Grimm mask with four eye slits. Yang remembered her as the woman who saved her on the train from Neo. But the dress. She remembered seeing it from a photo. A photo that showed a certain team, that included her uncle and father. The woman unhooked the masked and pulled it off as she stopped all breathing for a second. Standing before here, is a woman that resembled herself, only with red eyes and black hair.

"M-M-Mom?" Yang stuttered as Canderous raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Hello, Yang." Raven Branwen said as she smiled warmly. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

Yang mind was frozen, but she could still ask one question on her mind. "W-why? Why did you leave?" She asked, as Raven lose her smile, into a sad frown.

She sighed, as she motioned her to take a seat as she did.

"Tell me Yang, what do you know about the 4 Maidens?"

* * *

 **Vindex's Little Box of Author Notes**

 **And scene. Welcome to the bo-... What? What's with the funny looks? *Gets nailed in the head with a piece of paper* (Mumbling) What's this... 'The Summer Maiden is obviously...'. *Crumples up paper and tosses it to the side* I'd like to point out the only evidence to Summer Rose being the Summer Maiden is her name... Which if it turns out to be true, is a stupid technicality. Besides, my story, my idea, I write it how I wanna. Besides, I think that Raven just might be a Maiden, which I'll elaborate on in the next chapter. As for why Summer, well, you'll find out. And if you already know, then don't spoil it for the others.**

 **Anyways, that really all I got left for you guys. Well, leave a review if ya want.**

 **See ya around,**

 **Vindex**

 **Edited (1/8/16): Also want to address something from a reviewer. At this point, I have no plans for Yang and Canderous to become a couple, yet. I might, keyword might, try later on, but right now? It's a 30% likely.**

 ** _Edited (2/25/16): (Jessica) Did some adjustment to the character profile and story writing style._**


	2. Answers

**Welcome one and all! I am Vindex and this is 'Summer Maiden'. I don't really know what to say here, other than I've updated the previous chapter, just added a few details and rewrote some things. Nothing major, well except reaction and state of Yang that is. Other than that, I've got some things to say at the end so stick around.**

 _~Linebreaker~_

Amity Coliseum

20 minutes after the Explosion

Weiss Schnee was making her way towards Yang's prison cell in the Coliseum through the elevator. She had spent the better portion of the past few hours trying to figure out why Yang would cripple Mercury for no good reason at Beacon. It just didn't fit Yang to beat someone when their down, she preferred joking around a bit, but not what happened in the singles round. And it certainly didn't make sense that Yang of all people did it. She was caring to a point, even helping her with her feelings for both Blake and her sister, Ruby, and then helping her gain enough courage to confess to both. She smiled at the memory. So, after a minor debate, she decided to go talk to Yang. She just reached her floor, and prepared all her questions, but the moment the doors opened, all of them seemingly disappeared into the wind.

There were multiple Atlasian Knights surrounding the area as scattered melted parts of the robots were scattered in the area. General Ironwood was talking to Ozpin, who, despite having a calm look, Weiss could feel the rage he was holding back, his hand almost trying to crush the handle of his cane. She looked at a nearby door, which was nearly blown of its hinges and partly melted. "Professor Ozpin?" Weiss called as she made her way to the general and headmaster. "What happened here?" Ozpin and Ironwood's expressions went from rage and anger, to neutral-(ish). "Ms. Schnee, what brings you here?" Ironwood said, although inside, the two men both knew why she was her. "I came her to talk to Yang." She said as she looked around. "Did... Did something happen her?"

The two men's expressions grew sad as a small silence before it was broken by Ozpin. "There's no easy way to say this, Weiss... Earlier today, a man broke through multiple Atlesian Knight and Guardsmen. He destroyed several Knights and knocked out all of James's men, before entering the Prison Cells." Ozpin said in a sad voice, as Weiss froze, looking over to the door. "I'm afraid Yang was targeted and killed by a highly trained assassin. We... Only found a small hair sample leftover from the blast."

"... No." Weiss mumbled out after a while as she looked into the room. "No, she can't be..." A few tears came out as Ironwood put his hand on her shoulder. "Rest assured, we will find the man responsible for this, Ms. Schnee." He said. "There's no place on Remnant he could hide."

 _~Linebreaker~_

Abandoned Ruined Village

Yang looked at her mother in confusion. "The Four Maidens?" She asked, "From 'The Story of the Seasons'?" Raven nodded, as Canderous took to one side of the wall and leaned on it. "Well, the story goes that an old hermit, who wouldn't step away from his home was visited by four traveling sisters, each kind to him in their own unique way. The first one, Winter, encouraged him to meditate and reflect. The second, Spring, brought him fruit and flowers and tended to his garden. The third, Summer, convinced him to step outside of his shell and embrace the world, warming the old man's heart. And the last one, Fall, encouraged him to be thankful for what he has. For their kindness, the old man gives the four sisters great powers in return. As the embodiment of the four seasons, they promised to go through-out Remnant spreading their gifts."

Raven nodded. "Then, there really isn't much left to explain." She said, as she gave a low sigh, before speaking. "Before I found out I was pregnant with you, I went out to a small village that was recently overrun with Grimm. There, I found a woman, I think she was in her mid 50's, fighting against them. I helped her fight them off, when I noticed how she was fighting them. She burned through wave after wave and commanded the very weather around her, as if the very nature was her weapon. I didn't learn until after the battle, that she was the Summer Maiden." Yang's eye rose up as she gave a chuckle. "Sure, the woman, who you said looked 50-ish, is a millennial old fairy tale character." She said sarcastically, as Canderous gave a humorous chuckle. "What's she's trying to point out is that the woman was the last Summer Maiden. The powers of the Maiden are transferable, through a really specific set of rules." Canderous explained. "It's also worth noting, that the powers is usually transferable after the death of the current maiden."

"O.k." Yang said, wanting to see where this goes. "So this woman was the Summer Maiden. What happened to her?" Raven took a remorseful look. "She... Suffered too many injuries. I managed to get there and stop any final blows, but she didn't survive afterwards. She asked for my name, which I told her." She continued. "She said she was sorry for the burden she was going to place on my shoulders. But before I could ask what she meant, she closed her eyes and found her peace." Canderous took over from there. "Remember how I said the powers is transferable through death?" He asked, as Yang nodded. "Yeah, last person who the Maiden last thought of, if she is eligible, will become the next Maiden." Yang processed that information for a moment, before turning to Raven with a disbelief look on her face. "S-so, the woman who you meet and died out there in the village..." She said slowly, before Raven finished it for her. "Transferred the powers to me, making me the new Summer Maiden."

 _~Linebreaker~_

Team RWBY's Dorm

Ruby and Blake

Ruby was laying on her bed as Blake read her book, or at least tried to. Their minds were still wondering back to Yang, and their conversation for early. Well, Yang and Blake's conversation. Ruby hardly spoke a word, only at the end was when she did. They had hope they could talk some sense into Yang. But, unfortunately, Yang kept saying she was acting in self defense, even though they all witnessed her attack Mercury, even though he didn't do anything.

After a few minutes, Weiss walked in, looking pale and sad. Blake was the first to notice. "Weiss? Is something wrong?" She asked as Ruby looked at their girlfriend, who only closed the door. "Weiss?" Ruby took a few seconds before she asked "You went to see Yang?" At the mention of her name, Weiss started crying a bit. "Y-yes." She said in a sad voice. "Did Yang say something to you?" Blake asked, almost looking angry as Weiss shook her head. "No... Y-Yang... Y-Yang is... Is..." She started but couldn't finish. "What happened?" Ruby said, worried. Her question was answered through the intercom.

"Students and Faculty," Ms. Goodwitch said through it. "I... Regret to inform you that as of 10:27 p.m. earlier this night... Yang Xiao Long was killed while in custody in the Amity Coliseum by an unknown third party." Ruby and Blake both froze, as Weiss broke down again. "All classes have been suspended until further notice, and the Vytal Festival has been put on hold until further notice... That is all..." Ruby soon joined Weiss crying as she fell to the floor. Blake looked at the two, before pulling them in a loving embrace. She wanted to join them, but she had to put on a strong face. For their sake.

 _~Linebreaker~_

Village

Yang looked the two incredibly as Raven and Canderous shared a look. "..." Yang was silent as Canderous impatiently tapped his foot. "Really? You left Uncle Qrow... You left Dad... You left ME! Just because you got a brand freakin' new powers?!" Yang finally erupted as her hair erupted in flames. Canderous flinched backwards, as Raven looked in shocked. 'Huh, well what do ya know...' Canderous thought to himself as Yang continued to scream at Raven. 'She doesn't even know she's tapping into it. Hmm...' Canderous closed his eyes for a moment. 'If she really does have some of it in her... She'll need some help of she inherits the title.' He turned back to see his boss and boss's daughter as she continued screaming. "-ick! Did you even care about us? About ME! Obviously not since you abandoned-"

"The reason why I left was to protect you!" Raven shouted, as calming Yang down for a moment, before she continued in a softer voice. "You were just a year old when someone figured out I was a Maiden. They kidnapped you, and threatened me. He said that if I didn't relinquish my powers to him, he'd... kill you... I managed to get you back without Tai noticing, but I knew if I continued being around, I'd be putting you and Tai in danger... I had to leave." She shed of few tears here and there, but Yang did as well. She ran up to her and hugged her mother. "You know, it was pointless for him to try anyways. He couldn't even use the Maiden powers since it's only for woman." Canderous muttered to himself, before noting the looks from Raven and Yang. "I ruined the moment, didn't I?" They nodded. "I'll shut up now." They nodded as they wiped their eyes. "There's actually another reason why I had Canderous save you..." Raven said as she took a deep breath. "There was something that he said recently that had me curious and concerned about you... And after what you did while you were yelling confirmed my suspicions." Yang looked at her mother in curiosity, before turning to Canderous.

"When Raven here said she was about two weeks into her pregnancy when she got her powers, I thought about it for a while." Canderous elaborated. "Since you probably weren't fully developed yet, I asked her if there was any possibility that you inherited some of her powers. At first, she laughed. Then she thought about it." Yang looked at him funny as he finished. "So you mean to tell me that I have some portion of her powers?" She asked, spectacle as he nodded. "Didn't you just turn your hair on fire and shot a bit of fire around?" He pointed out. "From what I've gathered, your semblance adds any damage you receive to your power, so why does you're hair turn into fire, a small control over fire or brighten up with emotions?" Yang was going to respond, but promptly stopped. She never really thought about it, now that Canderous mentioned it. "I thought so. Since you have a portion of her power, no matter who she thinks when she ultimately kicks the bucket, no offense Raven," Canderous said, adding the last part as he looked to her mother. "It's going to seek out the remaining portion. In other words," He pointed a finger at Yang. "You."

"M-me?" Yang questioned as Raven nodded. "Let's get back on topic here, Canderous." Raven said as he gave her a look. "We can continue this later, but first we should explain why we actually called you here." Yang looked confused as Canderous agreed. "A few months ago, one of the Maidens was attacked, Amber the Fall Maiden, and half of her power was stolen." He explained. "She was ambushed by 3 people familiar to you. We didn't learn of it yet, but after some digging around, conversating with a few lowlifes, we found out their names. Emerald Susai, Mercury Black and their leader, Cinder Fall." Yangs eyes widened at the revelation. "You never broke Mercury's leg, considering he's missing half of each limb." Raven continued as she brought out a few photos. "Canderous has been scoping them out learning about their operations, while I tried staling their plans for a while."

She brought out five pictures. One was of a Red haired Bull Faunus, with a custom White Fang mask. Below him was a picture some White Fang Grunts. Next to him was Roman, bowler hat and all, with a picture of Juniors bar and goons. Finally, there was the picture of the girl from the train, Neo. "Gotta hand it to Cinder, she knows how to pick her pawns." Canderous noted as he through down two pictures out from his jacket pocket of Emerald and Mercury. "She picked Emerald off the streets. From what I've seen, she's an illusionist. That's why you saw Mercury attack you when everyone else saw you attacking him. It wasn't hard to find some connection to Mercury. Turns out, his dad was a pretty good assassin. Top of the class. Would bet my right arm that he's responsible for the fact Mercury's legs are gone at the knees. These two are her right and left hands. Then we have her grunts." He pointed at the Bull Faunus. "Don't know how she did it, but she managed to rope Adam Taurus into her group. Current White Fang Leader. With him, she has an army." He pointed at Roman, the bar, and Neo. "You already know Roman and Neo. Package deal. Both of these two have underworld connections. Like the hired muscle from Junior's."

Raven looked at Yang. "They know who I am, but only as the Summer Maiden. They haven't realized that your my daughter yet, but she knows that I was protective of you when I rescued you from Neo. That's why she had Mercury single you out. So she could get to me." She explained. "But she doesn't know about Canderous. So I had him break you out. I thought about this for a while, but I wanted to ask you. I haven't been in your life as much as you and I wanted, but... I need your help." She held out her hand. "Will you help me?"

Yang looked at her mother, then to her hand, then to Canderous (who gave her a polite wave), before looking back at her mother. Smiling she took it. "You betcha." She said as Canderous gave a uncommon smirk, and Raven a full smile. "But, I want to ask you something Yang." Raven said as Yang looked at her puzzled. "Tell me, do you want me to transfer a bit more of my powers to you?"

 _~Linebreaker~_

Team RWB's Dorm

Two Days since the Explosion

It's been two days since Yang was killed for the rest of her teammates. Ruby cried for a majority of the time. The last time she saw her sister, she barely said a word to her. The last words she said to her was, 'We all saw you, Yang. We saw you brake his legs.'. She could help but wonder if she got her killed.

Weiss was saddened as well. She didn't even say anything to the blonde brawler before she died. The last time she saw her, Weiss just gave her a horrified look as Yang was escorted to a jail cell. She kept thinking of that if she would have gone to see her quicker, she could have saved her.

Blake, although not taking it worse the Ruby, felt just as guilty. She remember her last word to her, 'I want to believe you... But I can't.'. She couldn't help but think back to all the times Yang went out of her way to help her. One moment stuck out, when she told Yang about innocent. 'The innocent never run... But they get murdered.' Blake though bitterly to herself.

Suddenly a ding was heard from Weiss's scroll as she looked at it. "Who is it?" Blake asked from her bed. "It's a message from Winter." Weiss said as she looked at the sub-heading. "About the man who killed Yang!" Suddenly Ruby and Blake both came up to her as they all read the message.

 _'Dear Sister and lovers,_

 _I managed to get this image of the man responsible for the death of your teammate. It isn't much, but at the same time, it's all that the general has been able to obtain of the man. Whoever he is, he's good at hiding. Some of the guards we interviewed said he had a custom gun that constantly fired Dust Rounds. This was all I've been able to obtain of him._

 _With love,_

 _Winter Schnee, Specialist.'_

They looked at the image. It was of a young man, about 5'10, holding a pistol in one hand, pointing it in front of him as he retreated back. He had a navy blue jacket and a dark t-shirt with some words on it. It wasn't eligible from this distance. But they could see his hair and eye color, which was a dark brown and sky blue respectively. The three of them looked at each other, before they nodded, splitting off to find Team JNPR and CFVY.

 _~Linebreaker~_

 **Vindex's Little Box of Author Notes**

 **Welcome to the box. Before I continue, I actually want to say this: I really... Really think Raven is a Maiden. Reason of being? If you look at it from that point of view, it makes sense. Raven has to cut off connections because she doesn't want to endanger her family. Also, it kind off explains for me why Yang's hair turns into flames or she just randomly sprouts flames once in a while (see the episode where they get the chess pieces, she actually sprouts/conjures flames). It may not be the summer, but I see it as very likely.**

 **Now, on to what I have to say, it's nothing major, just I found out approximately how long I'll be here for. Counting today (1/9/2016), two weeks and a couple of days. And it sucks because I REALLY want to stretch out my legs, and I can't because their in a freakin' cast. *Sigh* It sucks.**

 **Well, see ya around,**

 **Vindex**


	3. Training and Plans

**Hello, everybody, my name is Vindex, and I've brought you another chapter. I'm very pleased with the outcome with this story. I have a lot of ways to bring this story to life, and I am pleased to say that this is my first chapter complete with a battle scene! Well, it's a small battle, or training session, but it's a battle none the less! Go easy on it, because I have no idea whether or not I did a good enough job on it or not. Believe it or not, the actual battle was one of the key reasons why it took me so long to update. The other reason is that I had to do some creative things with the Maiden's powers. Canderous will explain it down the line, but done in the box, I'll explain more about what Yang/Raven can actually do. But first, I want to tell you all something before you continue.**

 **Recently, I contacted an artist over on Devianart about a possible story on a (sort of) comic serious she's made. I won't say who she is, or what series it is, just know it is RWBY related. This I will be publishing a chapter monthly. When the story will actually be published, I don't know. But I will say it will come soon, since I wanted to get this chapter out first.**

 **Anyways, onto the story!**

 _~Linebreaker~_

An Open Field

2 Day after Yang was rescued,

The Sun was high as Canderous led Yang and Raven to an open field not to far from the village. "What are we doing here Canderous?" Raven asked her loyal friend as he finally stopped. "Well, since you've transferred a quarter of your powers to Yang, you've been training her non stop to use them." Canderous said as he took out his blaster by the handle, then grabbed it by the barrel. "I figured now was a good as time as any to do some of my own training." He tossed his pistol to Raven as Yang looked at him confusingly. "So, what are we doing? Grimm Hunting? Target practice?" Yang asked as he shook his head. "No, but you half right." He said as he put out his hands. "But first, hand over the Ember Celicas." Yang raised her eyebrow as Raven got what he was planning to do. "O-Kay?" She said as she detached them and handed them to him. "Thank you." He said as Raven looked at him sternly. "Do you think this is a good idea?" She asked as Canderous nodded. "We need to gauge how well she is now." He said to her, handing over the Ember Celicas. "And we both know I won't hold back, while you will." Raven stayed quiet for a moment, before she moved away as Canderous looked at Yang.

"Alright, sunshine, let's see how far you've gotten with Raven." He said as he crossed his arms. "Your opponent is me. Don't you dare hold back on me, because I sure as hell am not in the future. " Yang looked surprised at the training that he proposed. "But I don't even know how to use them properly yet." She said, as Canderous raised his eyebrow. "And I don't have my weapon on me, but you don't see me whining about it." He remarked. "Training ends when I say it ends." Yang shook her head. "No, I want a few more days of training with mom first, then I'll fight you." She stated as Canderous's eye twitched. "Fine." He said as almost instantly. Yang looked surprised at how fast he resigned, but made her way past him and to Raven. That is, until she felt a small prick of the back of her hair. "OW!" She said as she rubbed the back of her head. "What was th-" She turned to look at Canderous and found him walking away with his back turned, one of his hands out. And in that hand, was... A few strands of hair...

"You..." Yang said as her eyes redden. "You... You... You..." She sprang forward as her legs started kicking back fire to give her an added boost. "YOU MONSTER!" She raised her arm back as he turned to face her. 'Finally, I was starting to think we'd never fight.' He thought to himself as he got into his combat stance, a fist as Yang got closer. 'Let's see what you've learned, Sunshine.'

 _~Linebreaker~_

Beacon Academy

Team RWBY's Dorm

The dorm was a bit crowded, but that's to be expected when there are 11 people inside a room meant for 4. Currently in the now Team RWB dorm, was Team JNPR and CFVY, who agreed to help Ruby, Blake and Weiss locate the man responsible for Yang's death. "Thank you all for coming." Ruby said as she stood by a whiteboard with pictures and notes written down by the girls. Blake and Weiss were sitting in the chairs next to them. Nora was sitting on top of RWB's bed with Jaune, Ren and Velvet. Yatsuhashi was leaning against the wall next to them, and Coco was somewhat sitting on the windowsill. Fox was on the floor seated, along with Pyrrha. "No problem, kid." Coco said as she took off her designer glasses. "We're glad to help you find this guy."

Ruby nodded, as she motioned for Weiss, who traded spot with her. "My sister, Winter, was kind enough to provide a photo of the man." She said as she pointed at the photo. "For what Winter told me, we was skilled enough to break through at least 20 guards stationed around the cell where Yang was." She pointed at a picture, which held the pistol the man was wielding. "He was using a custom cartridge, from what Winter told when from the video-footage. He fired several Dust rounds, mainly consisting of Ice, but also used a round of fire towards the end." Blake stood up, holding her scroll. "We've looked online for any clues or answer about him, but only found more questions." She said as she played a video. There were four men in a room, two of them White Fang, discussing something, sitting around a table with a breifcase on it, before the nearby door was heard to be slammed open. The four men turned, each wielding out a weapon like a pistol or sword, but four shots rang out in the video. They were all hit with a black blast as they all fell over, unmoving. Seconds later, the man from the photos walked in, holstering his pistol as he picked up the brief case and left off camera.

"There were numerous sightings of this man for different reasons, who some call Skull, because of his shirt. Breaking and entering, assassinations, conflicts," Blake said as she placed it down. "Most, if not all, having to do directly or indirectly with the White Fang." Ren looked at the photo. "Which begs the question why he targeted Yang." He said as the other looked towards him. "From what I've gathered, he specifically singles out the White Fang, but then he targeted someone who also was after them." They understood what he was trying to say, and continued on. "We decided that we should pair up to search in a wider canvas for Skull." Ruby said. "Weiss is going back to CCT to see if she could dig anything up on him. Meanwhile, we'll all split up with our respective partners to see if we can find him."

"If you should find him, contact the others, and try not to engage." Weiss cautioned. "We don't know anything else of this man, so we should all be present when we confront him." They all nodded, before they left the room in pairs, excluding Weiss: Blake and Ruby; Nora and Ren; Jaune and Pyrrha; Velvet and Coco; and finally Yatsuhashi and Fox.

 _~Linebreaker~_

Canderous P.O.V.

I ducked under her first punch, missing me only by a thread, as I got down on one hand and used one of my legs to sweep under both her legs. Before she could land on the floor, I spun my leg around a bit before I implanted both into her stomach, sending her spiraling across the field. I couldn't rest that long though, since she landed on her legs and used her legs in combination with her new powers to get back within striking distance. I didn't have much time to reach when I blocked the first jab to the face, and even less time to block the second directed into my gut. Not giving me a chance to recover, she roundhouse kicked me off to her right. I stumbled a bit, but I still stood as I fixed myself up a bit. "Right... No touching the hair..." I commented as I got back into my combat stance, smirking a bit. "I'll keep that in mind."

I waited patiently as Yang charged back at me, wasting no time in going on the offensive. I threw the first punch this time, directed towards her chest, but she managed move out of the way. I continued through the motion to avoid one of her punches, landing on one hand and knee, before aiming my other leg at her. She slammed her fist into it, causing me to flinch slightly as she and I moved back a bit. 'That actually burnt me...' I thought to myself as I looked at the bottom of my feet, noticing my shoes weren't even affected in the slightest. 'How'd she-' Wherever that train of thought was going, it was halted when Yang raised her arm up as her eyes glowed slightly. She slammed her fist into the ground as the ground around me cracked, showing bits of fire around it. 'Awwwwww, crap-baskets.' I thought grimly, attempting to move away from the cracks before Yang could do whatever she was doing. I wasn't fast enough, she slammed her fist down again as flames erupted through the cracks, burning my left shoulder.

"Huh, nice trick, sunshine." I said as I held my burnt shoulder a bit. "But there's more you can do. Each Maiden, with the exception of Fall, has two elements to their Arsenal. Winter has ice and snow, Spring has water and nature, and you should have wind along with your fire." I stepped back a bit. "Let's see how creative you can get with that. I want you to try to hit me using some sort of wind based attacked. From there." I stood in a caution stance as Yang took a look around. Looking behind her, she grinned as her eyes started glowing again. She raised her hands up slowly as the wind picked up behind her, causing her hair to wave to the left. I take a good look behind her, and I find some sharpened sticks being raised at me, 7 in total. "How's this?" She said as all seven crowded around her. "Not bad, huh?"

"Meh, it's alright, for a beginner." I commented, causing her to lose her grin, before she launched all 7 at me at different times. I plucked the first out of the air with one hand, before tossing them as I rolled away from the next three. The fifth grazed my right leg, along with the seven which struck the edge of my non-burnt shoulder. The sixth missed horribly. "Well you got me twice." I commented, brushing the wound on my leg a bit as I looked up. "That's one more than I thought you'd get. Not bad, Sunshine. Trainings over." She looked at me confused as Raven came back out. "Wait, we're not going to fight?" Yang asked me as I took a seat as Raven started healing my burnt arm with her powers. "Not yet. But with the way you're progressing, it may come soon." Raven said, confusing her even more. "Yang, we both are teaching you how to use your new powers, but we're both going in two separate ways. Canderous has no knowledge of how the powers truly work, or how to teach them to you. But I can show you that, and teach you some ways."

I nodded at this. "Meanwhile, Raven would probably hold back on you during the physical portion of the fight and you would as well." I explained. "But with me, you'd have not problem beating me into next week, and vice-versa." Yang nodded, understanding what we had planned as Raven moved to my foot, where it had a burn mark. "How the hell did you even burn me through me shoe?" I questioned as I nudged at Raven. "Anytime I had a fist fight practice round with her, she only burned me like that if the portion of my body she hit was exposed." Yang took a look at it before she shrugged. "I don't know, I just... Got really angry." She said as I looked curious. "For the hair, correct?" I asked as she nodded. "Huh, note to self, don't ever touch her hair." I muttered as Raven finished.

"So, what now?" Yang asked as Raven handed me my pistol. "The Tournament has been delayed for two weeks, and I don't have any doubts that Cinder will probably strike well before then." Raven said as I got up. "Right now, all we can do is wait." I nodded, and looked off to where I had my project in. "Well, you two keep yourselves busy. I've got something to work on." I said as left the mother-daughter duo.

3rd P.O.V.

Canderous went towards an old hut with tools and scraps surrounding it. "What's he doing?" Yang asked her mother, as he picked up a few tools and entered the building. Raven sighed, knowing full well what her long time companion was up to. "He's adamant on completing his work." She said. "Whatever it is, he won't tell me. I'd go in myself to see, but he locks the door and my teleportation only works if I've seen where I want to go. He's failed at it multiple times, but he just keeps going." Yang stared at the building as some clangs were heard. "So, mom. What are we doing today?" She said changing the subject. "Teaching me the _Flare Blitz_? Improving the _Power Geyser_?" Raven shook her head. "No, nothing offensive. It's more of a... Faster way of transportation." She explained as Yang looked a bit interested, but disappointed that it isn't a defensive move. "I call it the _Sky Walk_." She moved a bit back before jumping into the air. Raven was about to fall back down, but instead, a thin, black, transparent circle appeared under her as she pushed against it and went higher. To Yang, it looked like her mother was flying as she kept taking steps. Soon Raven started descending so Yang could take a look at what she was doing. "It doesn't take much to recreate." Raven explained, as Yang saw the thin-ish circle. "This works by solidifying the air below your feet, just before you fall." She took a jump to her left as it disappear from where she was but soon reappeared where her landed next.

"Now, first I want you to concentrate." Raven said as she got to ground level. "It's like how you have to focus the air around certain objects to make them levitate, only you focus it in a wider scale and solidify it." Yang nodded, and tried to concentrate it in front of her. After two minutes, a smaller (by a small margin) yellow version of the circle Raven created appeared in front of her. "You've got it. Now, try standing on it." Yang looked at it for a moment, looking over it to see if it was really solid or not. Finally, she slowly got up it with one foot, before getting her other foot onto it. "There, you go, Yang." Raven said, looking proud at her daughter. "But now comes the hard part. You'll have to create more of them to where you want to land." Yang nodded, and tried it again... Only for the current circle that she was standing in to vanish from her sight. "Wha-!" She shouted as she landed on her ass. Raven let out a small laugh as she shook her head. "That's the tricky part, my little Sunshine." Raven said, unconsciously calling Yang that as she had her eyes closed. "The _Sky Walk_ so far only allows for one circle to be created. You'll have to create them mid-flight." She opened them, to find Yang looking at her surprisingly.

"'My little Sunshine?'" Yang repeated as Raven realized what she said and promptly blushed in embarrassment. "Dad calls me that." Raven sighed. "You were probably to young to remember it," Raven admitted, as she took a seat next to Yang. "But during the time I was with you and your father, I used to call you that. I suppose that Tai picked up on that." She gave a chuckle as Yang smiled. She stopped laughing, as she put her head down into her knees. "I use to visit you frequently." Raven admitted. "After a year when I disappeared, I started visiting you and Tai in Patch. Just to see you." Yang's smile dropped a bit, but it was still plastered on her face. "Hehe, I should be a little mad at Summer, but she helped you and Tai when you two needed it the most." Raven said as she smiled. "She always did have a good heart." She stated that last part sadly as she gripped her hands. "I was following close behind you, you know. That day you went out to search for me." Yang froze, losing her smile.

"I suppose you were eventually going to learn about me. I was thinking about whether or not to tell you then and there." She continued, looking sad, like she just unwillingly kicked a three-legged puppy. "In the end, I was going to teleport into the house to talk to you, when the Grimm came out of it." She clutched harder, as a tear came out. "I... I froze up for a second when I saw you and little Ruby were in danger. By the time I was going to move in to save you, Qrow already arrived." Yang looked at her, before rapping her arms around her mother, surprising her. "... You really do care about me..." She said, as a few tears came out. "All that time, I thought you never cared. But, you were always besides me, weren't you?" Raven nodded, as they held that position for a few moments. Then Raven wiped her eyes away, and stood up with a smile. "Alright, my little Sunshine. Let's try again with the _Sky Walk_. I know you can get it." She said as Yang wiped her eyes, and returned the smile. "Right... Mom." She said as she stood up.p, and tried it again.

After a few successes and failures,

Yang was getting the timing for the Sky Walk down as she took it a little higher, but not high enough to make her go splat. "You're doing good Yang!" Raven called as Yang started descending back down. "You've already learned how to do some of my basic moves and attacks. Maybe it's time to learn some harder atta-" Her comments were cut of by an explosion. They turned around to see the hut where Canderous has been working for an hour or so in a tiny mushroom cloud. Not far from the actual cloud was a flying, disoriented Canderous. He landed with a thud nearby Raven and Yang. He groaned as he sat up. "Wrong wire..." He muttered as he got back up, and looked at the now ruined hut. "... Try #47: failed..." Raven put her hand on his shoulder. "Canderous, what was that?!" She asked a little aggravated as Canderous turned to face an angry Raven and a confused Yang. He looked thoughtful for a moment, before shrugging as he sighed. "Well, you're bound to find out sooner or later." He said as he motioned them to the ruined hut. "Come on, I'll show you what I've been working on." He lead them to the hut, which was now without walls or a roof. There were pieces of metals, as well as broken and non-broken tools spread across the floor. But what stood out was what was in the middle of the room.

It was a droid. It was taller than the Atlesian Knight, standing roughly at 5'11. It was a rusty red color, with a shiny coating on its armor as it stood proudly, which cover most of its body, excluding its joints, unlike the AK-200's. Each arm had one socket, which were deployed. In his left arm were wrist rockets and a flamethrower. His right contained a grappling hook and a dart launcher. But the most unique feature was its head. Unlike the headplate of the AK-200 which was white with a black visor, this droid didn't had a visor. No, it had a more human like appearance, although it was obvious it was a droid. It had two 'eyes', one on each side of its face. "This, boss and daughter of the boss," Canderous said putting his hand on the droids shoulder. "Is what I've been working on. The HK unit."

 _~Linebreaker~_

 **Vindex's Little Box of Author's Notes**

 **Welcome to the box! Now, as some of you may have noticed, I've added a new (technical) OC. HK-47, the assassin droid from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Between the 9 crew members in the Ebon Hawk (the ship in the game), Canderous Ordo and HK-47 were always my two favorite. By now, you're probably wondering what powers I gave them, or what the hell the names in italic over were. Well, I made a small list of what they can do, along with a short description of the moves.**

 **Current Summer Maiden Powers (** ** _Raven uses_** **/** **Yang Uses** **/** ** _Both Uses_** **)**

 ** _Fireball_** **\- Simplest fire attack, small 4 inch ball of fire**

 ** _Levitation_** **\- Simplest wind technique. Could be used to move objects to block attacks or launch objects at enemies.**

 ** _Fire Punch_** **\- A standard fire punch**

 ** _Blaze Kick_** **\- A standard fire kick**

 ** _Fire Geyser_** **\- A concentrated attack of Fire, were the user punches the ground, and creates a minor flame to engulf the area of the users choice.**

 ** _Sky Walk_** **\- A passive ability where the user creates a solidified circle of air while airborne to use as stepping stones, giving the illusion of flying.**

 ** _Flare Blitz_** **\- A medium fire attack where the user charges at the enemy, surrounded in flames to slam into them.**

 **Flame Charge** **(name pending) - A passive ability where the user uses flames as a burst of speed. Leaves behind a flame trail that, oddly enough, does not burn its surroundings.**

 **Some of these I've taken the liberty of adapting from games/shows/animes. Flare Blitz, Blaze Kick and Fire Punch are from Pokémon. Sky Walk is from One Piece. And Fire Geyser (originally named Power Geyser) came from Fatal Fury. Flame Charge, and the first two is just something I gave them. And if you need a better description of Flame Charge, it's kind of like Ruby's Semblance, and the flames are like her rose petals and Neon's rainbows.**

 **Anyways, that's all I got. Thanks for reading this fellas!**

 **See ya around,**

 **Vindex**


	4. Teaser Chapter

**Teaser Alert!**

 **Since I'll be working on new story for now, which I've decided to update semi-monthly (twice a month) instead of monthly, I thought I drop a little teaser as the next chapter. Keep in mind, this is just what I have planned so far as to the next chapter. Also, to the guest that reviewed in the last chapter, what's that suppose to mean? If it's because of Canderous's word choice of calling Yang 'Sunshine', well yeah, that's part of his nature. I stated back that he's based somewhat on my attitude. And I have a habit of calling other people nicknames. And I even stated back in prologue that I don't have any current plans for an OC/Yang pairing. If I had to say as of right now, it's at a 1/4 chance of making it.**

 **But enough of that, time for the Teaser!**

 _~Linebreaker~_

"I can build him over and over again, but it's the bloody wiring and programming that gets me." Canderous ranted, looking extremely pissed off. "... As much as it pains me to do it, I'm going to call in a favor back in Vale. He's a good programmer." He moved to pick up his blaster from the desk. "Let's just hope he's not piss over the last time I visited." Yang looked over to Raven. "What did he do?" She asked as Canderous went towards HK. "He might have killed a few White Fang grunts that to this day are hunting him down." Raven commented.

 _~Linebreaker~_

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WON'T HELP US?!" Ruby shouted as she grabbed Juniors tie and pulled it down, glaring at him as Blake took a step back. "Sorry, kid. I can give you all what I know about him, but I'm not going after him." He said as she let go, but still glared. "Last time he visited our little club, was a few days after your sister first visited. We were almost finished with renevations when he came. It took 3 weeks to get it working again and get my boys out from the hospital."

 _~Linebreaker~_

"Ruby, I want to get this man, no, this monster, just as much as you do." Blake said looking at her straight in the eye outside Junior's. "But you need to calm down. Right now, you're acting like you want to murder him the next time you see him." Ruby looked away as she watched the sky. "Maybe I do..."

 _~Linebreaker~_

"I should have the programming done in about soon, but I need to know, what weapons the droid is capable of using." Fredrick said as he type on his computer. "I had sent a blueprint of the weapon sent to a blacksmith." Canderous said as he crossed his arms. "It's a sniper that can transform into an assault rifle and a standard sword." Fredrick nodded as he typed a few things in. "O.k, it should be ready for pick up in... 4 hours." He said as Canderous nodded. "I'll be back in 3 and a half. Thanks Freddy." Fredrick growled as Canderous raised his hands in defense. "Sorry, Fredrick."

 _~Linebreaker~_

Ruby was lost in her own thoughts that she bumped into a person and fell back on her butt. "Oh, sorry there, Red." A voice said, as she looked up to see who she bumped into. She froze as the stranger extended his hand. Same jacket, same facial features, only the shirt was different. "You okay?" Canderous asked as he noticed her death glare. "You seem a bit-" His eyes widened as Ruby kicked him in the chest with both feet. He flew out the weapon store's window and landed with a thud as people stared. "Angry... Ow." He said as he got a bit up, to see Ruby stepping out with Crescent Rose full extended in Scythe mode.

 _~Linebreaker~_

He stared at the girl, before turning to see the cuts on his jacket. "Oh, you did not just do that, Red Riding Hood." He growled out as he took out his pistol. "Fine if that's how you want to play-" He pressed a button on his pistol as it started transforming. The barrel of the gun started twisting and turning itself upwards until it was a straight cylindrical object. He detached the bottom chamber, releasing the yellow Dust Crystal. It disappear as a new crystal took it place, a purple one. Canderous closed the chamber before he pressed a different button, and a purple beam erupted out of the beam. "-then let's dance." He said as he got into a fencing stance.

 _~Linebreaker~_

"In breaking news, there is a brawl in downtown Vale." A news-reporter said as Blake and Weiss looked at the news report near the drop-ship to beacon. In another part of Vale, Yang and Raven were watching from a scroll. "We have live footage from our lead reporter Ami Koshimizu. Ami?" The setting change on to the street outside a local weapon shop/armor smith, with a long haired brunette standing in front of it. "Thank you, Barb." She said as they heard swishes and clangs off camera. "These two have been duking it out for nearly 30 minutes. The VPD would step in, but one of the participants is a huntress at Beacon academy and they only fear that they woul-" A loud bang was heard as Ami yelped as the camera ducked for a moment. "GET BACK HERE!" A voice familiar to both Yang, Weiss and Blake recognized, wided eye. "How about you calm the fuck down and-" *CLANG!* "Stop!" *CLANG!* *CLANG!* "Trying to!" *CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!* "Stab me!" Another voice, this time only recognizable to Raven and Yang, said as the camera moved to see two figures locked in a battle. Ruby Rose, Scythe extended and a facial expression bent on murder, and Canderous Setar, holding his lightsword with an aggravated expression.

 _~Linebreaker~_

 **And that's the last of the Teasers. Next time you'll see a chapter, it'll be after I get the first chapter/prologue of my newest project out.**

 **See ya around,**

 **Vindex**


	5. Bonding

**Hello everyone, my name is Vindex. And the next chapter of Summer Maiden. So,,if you haven't been keeping up with the rest of my stories, you haven't learned yet that I got an editor... Who happens to be my roommate, Jessica.**

 ** _Jessica: Hello!_**

 **That would be her there. Anyways, if you haven't read the chapter title, then you probably have figured out that I've changed my mind about Ruby v. Canderous. Mostly because, a) It seems a little too early to me that they'd meet each other.**

 ** _J: b) That he should face someone other than Ruby. So, we decided to do a Poll. There will be 3 options to choose from: Qrow, Winter, or Taiyang. This poll will be up for a week._**

 **We also thought, we've seen some bonding between Yang and Raven, and it should be establish that Raven and Canderous have been working together quite well for the past few years. So, it's time that Yang and Canderous get some one-on-one time to chat. And Jess decided to expand a bit on his back story a bit, and the role he plays.**

 ** _J: If we can set up another poll, we will also be asking: Canderous/Yang pairing? Yes or No. We'd like your feedback on this. This poll will be up for two weeks. Also, I almost have a profile fixed up for HK-47. I've added something from another Star Wars game into him. Here's two clues since I came up with the idea: SWTFU, and P.R.O.X.Y._**

 **So with that being said, let's get to the story.**

 _~Linebreaker~_

"Canderous?" Raven asked as he looked into her direction. "What the hell is this?"

Canderous just gave her a shrug, before answering.

"It's a droid." He said sarcastically. "It is what it-"

Raven glared at him before he raised his hands.

"Alright, alright. Originally, he was going to be the third in this little band, but now he's been reduced to the fourth." He answered, opening the front panel to take a look at the wiring. "I've been building him ever since we've found out what Emerald's semblance is. I've got the basic structure and all, but the wiring and programming is being a pain in the ass."

He touched one of the wires sticking out, but all it did was shock him. He brought his hand back, shaking off the pain, before sighing.

"I'm going to have to talk go to Fredrick." Canderous said as he closed the open panel. "He's better at this then me. At least this way, I don't take another building with me."

"And how are you going to do that?" Raven questioned.

"How else but by going directly to the source and talking to him?" Canderous said, obviously. "He's still sitting in his little 'fortress' at the docks."

Raven thumped her foot a couple of times, as she gave Canderous a stare.

"... Which is in Vale... And is probably on lockdown trying to find me." Canderous realized, sighing. "... Fuck."

Raven smacked him overhead, not because of the language. but short sightedness. He rubbed his head as he gave her a stare.

"You didn't have to do that, you know." He commented. "But, I see your point, I can't go to Vale just, yet. But we need to get HK up and running soon."

"So what are you suggesting?" Yang asked, interjecting into the conversation.

Canderous thought about it for a moment, before walking over to the desk and searching for a pen and paper.

"I can go into Vale because they'll be looking for me..." Canderous stated as he found them and started writing something down. "Likewise, Yang can't go, because she's believed to be dead, and it'll spoil the surprise we have in store for Cinder."

He walked towards Raven, handing her a paper with an address, location, a phrase, and a set of instructions.

"So, you'll have to talk to Fredrick for me." Canderous said, getting a blank look from her. "You can get in and out of Fredrick's place with HK. Like you said, I can't go to Vale without getting into a fight, and Yang is suppose to be dead. You're the only one left."

She gave him a neutral look, before sighing and taking the paper.

"How useful is will the droid be?" She asked as Canderous gave a smirk.

"Well, if Freddy can do what I wrote, which he can, it'll be very useful." He responded. "Trust me on this."

Raven nodded, as she opened up a portal. She picked up the droid, with a little struggle, before standing up straight.

"Watch my daughter, Canderous." She spoke, giving him a glare. "If anything happens to her-"

"We're in the middle of Nowhere, Vale." Canderous stated, rolling his eyes. "I don't think anyone will come knocking, asking for a cup of sugar."

Raven didn't glare at him. She should knew that despite his sarcasm, he was completely serious about protecting Yang. She's her kid, and currently the next person to inherit the power of the Summer Maiden. He made a self-promise to protect the Summer Maiden with his life. And if Yang is going to inherit that power, then he's going to damn well protect her.

Canderous P.O.V.

She took HK-47 through the portal leaving me and Yang behind, in an awkward silence. It seemed like we were there for a long while.

"So, we got some free time." I said, breaking the silence, looking towards her. "She won't be back until 4 hours. Fredrick will probably take up most of her time, and knowing him, he'll ask for a favor."

"You knew he'd do that, didn't you?" Yang commented as I chuckled.

"Besides the occasion spot and the training that we did earlier, we haven't had a whole lot of talking." I said as I started walking out of the building, her following close behind. "I'd figure now is a good as time as any. Right now, but first, drinks."

We entered the building Raven keep all our drinks in. I went to my own stash and pulled out one of medium (8 oz) bottles of whiskey. I saw her eyeing it from the corner of my eye.

"Are you even old enough to drink it?" Yang asked as I pulled two more out. "You don't seem older then 19."

I chuckled at that.

"There is one thing that I've learned working with your mother, Yang." I commented as I placed them on a table. "If you are old enough to shoot a gun, old enough to drive, old enough to kill a man, and old enough to risk your life almost on a daily basis, you are old enough to have a swing of alcohol."

She looked at the drinks that I had placed. I could already tell where she was going to go with this, so I just shook my head. I went back to the stash and pulled out one bottle.

"And I'm 23. So yes, I'm old enough to drink." I added as I tossed the bottle to her. "If your mother asks, I tried to stop you."

She looked at it, as I took my three bottles in my hands and stepped out with her. We ended up on top of one of the taller buildings just watching the view of the plains and trees.

"So, how did you meet mom?" Yang asked me, as I opened my bottle. "If it's not too much to ask about."

"We're bound to have this conversation at some point, kid." I said taking a small sip. "Ain't much of a pretty story though."

Yang didn't falter, only opening her bottle and taking a small sip as well, before bleaking at the taste.

"Yeah you get use to that. Well, if you want to know how I meet Raven, I got to go back to the beginning." I said, giving a small chuckle at the start, but sighed at the end. "I never knew my real family well. My mother and father were both Hunters, I had a sister that was 6 years older then me, but that's all I really knew about them."

"What happened to them?"

"Grimm. I don't remember much, I was just 2 years old at the time. I just remember running with my sister, the Grimm that were behind us... The sound of my sister tripping. I was going to go back for her, but she told me to keep running... I can still hear her screams sometimes. Add that to the reasons I drink sometimes, hehe."

"That... Sounds awful. I don't know how you felt."

"Don't. I hate pity. As much as I hate myself for it, it didn't sting as much as I had hope as I grew up. Like I said, I hardly remember them. Only thing I can remember clearly is their faces and my sisters embrace. Back to the story, I kept running. Eventually, I made it to a town. I was put into an orphanage, but it was clear that most of the buggers living with me were assholes. Got the complimentary 'Welcome to the Orphanage Beat Down' the first day. Would have been worse, but a kid who was well liked stepped in. His name was Josh. He kept me company for the next 5 years. Protected me, helped me with any problems, hell, he acted like an older brother."

"Whatever happened to him?"

"He got adopted by a couple who took him out of the town. I was alone again, but their attention was focused on the newer kids. So, for the next year, I stayed out of the limelight. Never fit in with crowds that well. Then, one year later, an old Huntress by the name of Sheena came to the orphanage. Imagine my surprise when out of all the eager kids that wanted to be adopted, she choose me, the anti-social, brooding kid."

"She must have seen something in you."

"Maybe. I lived with her for multiple years. The first day I was with her, Sheena asked me if I wanted to have my aura unlocked. At the time, I didn't care whether or not it was, and I voice that thought out, so she unlocked it. It wasn't until I found her old pistol when I was 12 that I figured out why she did that. By then, I figured out what my semblance was."

I put my hand out as I concentrated. A small light appeared on my hand, as Yang looked with interest. As it died, a red Dust Crystal took its place. I took out my pistol as I stared at the two.

"Dust Crystals. Real handy, I'll tell you. Can make up to five of these baby's, and any type of Crystal as well. With that in mind, Me and Sheena tweaked her weapon to work with my semblance. That weapon is the same weapon I carry now. I made a second one a few months later when I gathered enough materials to make it. After that, she started training me to be the best that I possibly could be. For once, I was finally content. I found a purpose, to protect the town. But all things most come to an end."

"What happened..?"

"Grimm. The fuckers seem to be the cause of every single disaster in my life. They attacked at night, I barely knew what was happening. The town was on fire, rain was pouring down, and the Grimm slaughtered nearly everyone in the village. In the end, it was just me vs. them."

I finished my bottle, and moved it aside. I reached for one of my bottles, only to find one left. I looked to Yang, to see her holding one half way done with an empty one nearby. I shook my head as I took the last one, opened it and took a large chug.

"I should have died that day, you know. Sure, I had weapons, an seemingly endless supply of ammo, intelligence. But they had numbers. And by the time I got them all down to a small cluster, I was exhausted. It was going to be curtains for me. But then, a circle of fire surrounded the Grimm, it shot upwards and enveloped the Grimm, burning them all to ashes. It was your mother, Raven. She saw the flames from a distance and quickly made her way towards it."

"She saved your life, huh?"

"Depends on how you look at it. At the time, I was a bit pissed of with her. I wanted to die. I lost my first family to the Grimm, I lost my second one to the same reason. I has nothing left. So, I told her she better take responsibility for that."

"Responsibility?"

"Told her I was tagging along with her. And I wasn't going to take no for an answer. I had nothing left, I figured I might as well follow my savior to do whatever she was doing."

"So, blackmail?"

"Something like that."

"You got balls, Candy. Didn't think you'd be so bold as to do that."

"First of all, Candy? Really? I'm anything but sweet. Second of all, like I said, I had nothing left. I thought I might as well follow her lead."

Yang nodded as she took another sip.

"So, what is it that you do with Mom?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what have you been doing with the whole Cinder fight?"

"Well, we work in two different ways. She strikes quick and fast, in the shadows. She usually does recon work for me though. I hit hard and sudden. While Raven runs the show in this little gang, I'm the face that Cinder sees attacking her forces, mainly the White Fang, out in the open. Figured we want to surprise her that two of her enemies are working together when we finally confront her."

We stared off at the horizon as Yang was quiet.

"Back at the drinks, you said something about old enough to kill a man." Yang said as I sighed, fully expecting the question. "Have you ever... You know?"

"Have I ever killed a man?" I finished for her as she nodded. "I'd be lying if I said no. I don't take any pleasure out of doing it."

"How many?"

I stayed silent for a few seconds.

"Enough that when I reached 50, I started tallying them up. Not as a score, but as a remembrance. Didn't want to turn into a mindless killing machine."

Yang was quiet. Didn't know whether it was from shock, or thought.

"Enough about me, though. What about you? How was Beacon before the whole Festival began?" I said, changing subjects way from any unpleasant dark thoughts.

 _~Linebreaker~_

Beacon Academy

Courtyard

3rd. P.O.V.

"What are you doing here, Qrow?" Winter Schnee said as Qrow Branwen walked up to the Specialist. "I was under the assumption that-"

"Not in the mood, Winter." Qrow said, not sounding like his drunken self. "I came to talk to you about the man that killed my niece."

"The general hasn't disclosed any information ab-" Winter started before Qrow cut her off.

"And yet, my other niece and her friends are searching around Vale for him, which means you disclosed some information about him. I want to know whatever you know about him."

Winter looked around and saw nobody near them. She turned to him.

"Why do you want to know Qrow?" Winter questioned.

"Tai is here at Beacon." Qrow explained. "He's talking to Ruby, comforting her before he starts tearing through the streets of Vale looking for him. I'm going to help him out, but we need to know about him first."

Winter understood to a point and thought about it. She saw how torn up both Weiss and Ruby were about Yang's death. She wouldn't publicly admit it, but Ruby and Blake were growing on her. They were Weiss's light, and she knew that they could make her happy. So she made up her mind.

"I'll tell you on one condition, Qrow. You let me in on this little manhunt of yours."

Qrow was a bit surprised at the sudden interest, but nodded as Winter started going over the little bits o information they had gathered from him.

 _~Linebreaker~_

Back with Canderous and Yang

8:30 P.M.

Canderous P.O.V.

It's been a couple of hours since Raven left. Yang and I have been keeping busy with stories about either things that me and Raven have done, or Yang's exploits at Beacon. I've learned a bit about her teammates and friends, too. I was surprised by the fact the the three other members of her teams were all in one relationship, but it's not my place to judge.

I went back at one point to get another round of whiskey for both of us. She's a little tipsy, but the worst she'll have is a bad headache in the morning. We were going over a battle where Raven slammed into a Goliath while completely on fire when, speak of the devil, a portal opened behind us, and Raven stepped out.

"Hey Raven."

"Hey Mom."

We both greeted at the same time as she took notice of where we were as I did. We were on the edge of the building, three bottle of my whiskey next to each of us, and Yang had hers almost emptied, while mine was half full...

The look Raven gave me spoke of murder.

"She's not overly drunk. I gave her the weaker stuff in my cabinet." I stated. "She saw me pull out a few, and you know my policy. Old enough to risk your life on a daily basis, old enough to drink."

She still glared at me as Yang put down the bottle.

"We are in trouble, aren't we?" She said as Raven shook her head.

"More over Canderous. And not because of the drinks, which you will not do again." Raven replied.

"Noted." I said, finishing my drink placed it down. "Let me guess, Fredrick wanted a few favors?"

"How do you deal with him?" Raven questioned as I shrugged.

"I call him Freddy a bunch of times in a visit to the point that he'll do it with 1 or 2 favors." I said, as Raven's eyebrow twitched. "I thought I wrote that down."

"You didn't." She said as I scratched the back of my head. Whoops.

"So, how long until that droid is ready?" Yang asked as Raven calmed down a bit.

"He said in a tomorrow in the afternoon. He said something about getting the weapon right, and that the programming was 'delicate'."

I nodded.

"Alright, I'll get some rest, and go pick it up in about tomorrow in the morning." I said, turning to Yang. "I want to see if he can do something for me with your gauntlets. I have an idea."

 _~Linebreaker~_

 **V & J's Box of Authors Notes**

 **Welcome to the box! Now, I want to say two things. We set up the bonding between Yang and Canderous so it could go either way? If the votes tally for no romance, well that just means they bond as close friends. If the tally is yes, then you know what it is. I said that I would consider it, so I thought I'd let you guys decide for yourselves.**

 ** _J: We will also be taking a weeklong break from this story. Mostly, so we can let people decide who they want to fight. We will edit this current chapter in a week to announce who won, so come back in a week. The poll will be closed at 3:00 P.M Pacific Time on Sunday, the announcement will come 30 minutes later._**

 **Edit: Alright, change of plans, apparently I can't keep two polls up at the same time for whatever reason. So here's what's going to happen. I'm going to have the fight one up first and when that ends, I'll set the romanace one up afterwards.**

 ** _2nd Edit: (Jessica) Alright, maybe Vin wasn't very clear about how we are doing the votes. While we welcome any reviews, at least vote on the profile so that your vote may count. And no, there will not be a 2-v-1 or 3-v-1. We, as the creators, know the limits of Canderous. And putting him against Tai and Qrow is suicide basically. We want to keep it real._**

 **3rd Edit: Hello Everyone! The poll has official ended! And I have the winner, which actually surprises me. The winner of the poll was... Winter Schnee. Yup, you read that right. Winter won... I am sad because I actually wanted Qrow to win, I mean, I gave him a nice looking semblance. But Jess is happy, mostly since she actually wanted Winter to win. It was neck and neck for Taiyang and Winter. But in the end, Winter won by one vote. Poll for the Romance will be up until the 17th of February.**

 **See ya around!**

 **Vindex +** ** _Jessica_**


	6. New Team, Old Memories

**Hello everyone, Vindex here. And this time, yes, it really is me. If you haven't been following 'Little Yu'-**

 ** _Jessica: Which you totally should._**

 **Then you didn't know that I've taken a small vacation from writing Fanfiction stories. Needed a break after the rollercoaster that was V3's Finale... Just wow... And we have to wait a year-**

 ** _J: Or so I've been told._**

 **For Volume 4? Wow, RT... You guys are some cold motherfuckers... I approve.**

 ** _J: Keep us in suspense. Anyways we have two announcements about Summer Maiden._**

 **The first being the story. We officially have the plot all set for Summer Maiden. 22 chapters in total, 4 being something special we have for you all just before the last three chapters.**

 ** _J: The second is, well, the Poll. And let us just say: you guys made it clear. 9 votes for Brother/Sister Relationship, 4 vote for Friends, 1 vote for Romance. Brother/Sister-like relationship it is._**

 **Anyways, we will be doing the Winter Battle... Next chapter. After some decision with Jessica, we realized... We haven't seen much on Ruby's side.**

 ** _J: Also, we do have a romance in mind since before the poll came up, we just wanted your opinion on the case. So don't worry, Yang will find a special someone._**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

3rd P.O.V.

Earlier that Day,

Beacon Academy

RWBY's Dorm

* * *

A cloakless tired Ruby was staring adamantly at the board that they filled with research about the man they know as Skull. She'd been studying the notes they've gathered, which wasn't much. She watched one of the videos where they could clearly see him reloading his pistol, and recently noted that he used .357 magnum rounds. She barely been able to get enough sleep since they've began their little crusade against Skull.

"Ruby, you should take a break." Weiss said as she came up besides her, putting her hand on her shoulder. "You've been staring none stop at that board all day. And while it's nice to see you studying for once, you shouldn't do it to death."

"Not yet, Weiss. There's something missing here, I just know it." Ruby said a bit sleepy as she took her eyes off the board. "There's something about his pistol that doesn't seem right..."

Weiss shook her head as she called Blake over. Together, they each grabbed Ruby by an arm and a leg.

"Sorry, but we weren't asking Ruby." Blake said, as they moved towards Weiss's bed while Ruby struggled poorly. "You can continue this after you've taken at short nap, but until then-" They dropped Ruby onto of the bed as Ruby glared at them. "Sleep, now."

She grumbled to herself, muttering '30 minutes'.

"We'll wake you up in 45 minutes Ruby." Blake said as she covered her up using Ruby's discarded cloak.

Stepping away from their youngest girlfriend, they started their own conversation away softly.

"I haven't asked, how have you been holding up, Blake?"

"I've been better, but I need to put on a brave face for you girls. I'm more worried about Ruby than myself at the moment."

"Despite the rough first days, she's taking this rather well from someone who lost a relative."

"You didn't see her at Junior's Bar..."

* * *

Flashback

Juniors Bar

A Day Earlier,

* * *

"What's a minor doing here?" Junior asked his bartender as he stared Blake and Ruby sitting near the bar. "We don't offer any alcoholic drinks to minors, kids. So-"

"We're not here for drink, Junior." Blake said, cutting him off. "We're looking for information, something a friend of both of us said you were the center of."

"And who might be that be?" He asked looking down the two.

"A certain blonde that may or may not have destroyed your bar once in the past." Blake answered back as Junior's eyes widened, for a split second, before he took his neutral look.

"So, you're friends with Blondie, huh?" Junior said as he stood in front of them in the bar. "My condolences, but I don't think you're here to drink away your sorrows."

"You'd be right." Blake said. "We know who killed Yang, but we don't know anything about him." She pulled out a picture if Skull from the video they had of him. "Tell us, what do you know about this man."

She slid the photo to Junior, who picked it up and gave it a look over. The second he saw the shirt and face, he paled noticeably.

"You're saying this man," He said, gesturing to the photo. "Is the one who killed blondie?" Two nods of their heads and he sighed. "Of all the people, it had to be him."

"You know him?" Blake said, hopeful as they brightened up at the fact of a lead.

"Not personally, he never gave me a name." Junior said as both girls deflated, then reflated at the next few words. "But he's been here before, asking a few questions about interests."

"Do you think you can call him here?" Blake said as Junior shook his head.

"Never got his number, and even if I did, I wouldn't call him." Junior said as Ruby got angry. "I can't help you with him."

Wrong choice of words as Ruby grabbed his necktie and pulled it down so she could glare at him eye to eye.

"What do you mean 'You can't help us'?!" Ruby nearly shouted as Blake took a back in surprise.

"Sorry, kid. I can give you all what I know about him, but I'm not going after him." He said as she let go, but still glared. "Last time he visited our little club, was a few days after your sister first visited. We were almost finished with renovations when he came. It took 3 weeks to get it working again and a few more days to get my boys that were injured in the fight out from the hospital."

"We aren't asking that you fight him, although that would be nice." Blake said, setting in between Ruby and Junior. "We're asking if there's anything you can tell us about him."

Junior was silent, clearly thinking about it, so Ruby drove it home.

"Please, I need to find him. He killed my sister." Ruby said sadly as Junior's eyes widened. "We just need something."

Junior was silent again.

"... The last time he came over to the bar, he said he'll be coming back this Friday." Junior said after a short sigh. "I can clear out most of my patrons, but you'll need to have some of your people in here so you can grab him."

"Thank you." Blake said as she took Ruby and left the bar,

* * *

Present

* * *

"She really did that?" Weiss said, looking back to Ruby as Blake nodded.

"I talked to her about it, and she really seemed out of it, mad as well." Blake continued. "At one point I said that if she's acting like she's looking for Skull just to kill him. And she mumbled out something lowly but I was still able to hear it... She said that maybe she really does wants to kill Skull."

Weiss looked over to Ruby, slightly shocked at the not so innocent intent behind the innocent sleeping girl.

"We need to keep an eye on her, we don't need her going on a vigilante spree against him."

Blake nodded as they heard a knocking at the door, waking up the sleeping rose. Weiss went up to the door and opened it, seeing someone they weren't really familiar with.

It was a woman, probably around her late 20's. She had on an outfit that looked almost exactly like Winter's Specialist clothing. She stood a bit talks than her, with her black hair falling freely behind her back. Her eyes were a shade of aqua-green, that just gave off a warm feeling. It also helped that she had a warming smile. Strapped to her sides looked to be two Escrima Sticks, with one of them being attached to some type of handle.

"Hello, young ones. I am correct in assuming that this is Team RWBY's room?" She said in a calm cooling voice, as Weiss nodded. "If I may enter?"

Weiss moved out of the way as the woman entered, leaving the door open. She took a look around the room, looking amused at the bunk beds and curious at the Board of Skull. She turned her head back to the girls.

"Headmaster Ozpin sent me here because he and General Ironwood have both decided to fill in your vacancy in your team." She said, surprising the three girls. "They elected to send my ward from Atlas to fill in your team, though the General has some mixed reactions on it."

Ruby was the first to react to the news, angry at the news.

"So you're replacing my sister with someone we don't even know?" She growled out as the woman shook her head.

"Oh, no. In fact, you may be very familiar with her." She said, smiling lightly. "She has spoken a great deal about you specifically, Ruby. You can come in now."

They looked at the door as a familiar friend they meet before the tournament walked in.

"Sal-u-tations, Friend Ruby!" Penny said as she had a large smile and waved at Ruby.

"Penny?!" Ruby said surprised as Blake and Weiss both looked each other in surprise as well. "But I thought you were still in the Tournament?"

"Oh, the General pulled me out of the tournament. Headmaster Ozpin thought it be better if I was moved into Beacon for a better learning experience." Penny said cheerfully, but lost the grin. "He was against it at first, but Lilith was able to convince him that it was better to come here to learn more about being Huntresses."

"Now, before we continue, we need to discuss two things. The first is that you are being renamed as Team RSPB (Raspberry)." The woman known as Lilith said as the four of them listened carefully. "The second is about Penny... You see, she's not your average student from Beacon."

Ruby had a feeling of what it was, while Penny seemed a bit nervous, and the last two girls curious.

"Penny is synthetic robot, the first to be able to produce an aura." Lilith revealed as she walked over to Penny, placing her hands on either shoulder, while Weiss and Blake looked the revealed robot in surprise. "Now, this does not mean that Penny is an emotionless robot. She can experience emotions such as fear, anger, sadness, and happiness. But she is naive, and does really know much about how to act normally. I've been trying to teach her, but there's only so much I can do, which is why I supported placing her here. But I do ask that you keep this a secret from others. You can tell a limited amount of people, but no more."

Blake and Weiss were staring at Penny in somewhat awe, while Ruby didn't look that much different, only somewhat excited at her friend being here in Beacon with her.

"Now, there is on thing the Headmaster expressed that he wished for me to talk to you all." Lilith said, taking a neutral look. "It concerns your hunt for this man."

She pointed at the board with everything gathered by them and their friends, as they, minus Penny, somewhat paled a bit.

"Please note that he isn't disappointed or enraged. He was honest not surprised that you were doing this." Lilith said, as they calmed down a bit and listened. "He also said that it was worth noting that one Taiyang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen and Winter Schnee have also began their own search for him, though they haven't turned out much."

"Winter said there wasn't a lot of data on him, but have you found anything new?" Weiss asked as Lilith nodded.

"The General is trying to come up with leads, but we only found one. An event at a Furask Weapons Research Facility, one of the SDC's partners." Lilith commented, as Blake's eyes widened. "We don't have a lot of information on it, but we believe he was there."

"What happened to the building?" Ruby asked curiously.

"It collapsed." Surprisingly, it was Blake who answered that as all eyes were trained on her. "... It was a few months before I left the White Fang. My partner, Adam-"

"Adam? As in Adam Taurus? The supposed leader of the White Fang?" Lilith questioned as Blake nodded.

"We went to the building in search of weapons to use in raids on some of the Dust Trains, sorry Weiss by the way." Blake said off topic. "It was suppose to be a simple smash and grab, we take out any Atlesian Knights in the area and take as many weapons as we can carry."

* * *

Flashback

7 months ago,

* * *

"What do we have?" Adam asked as Blake took out Gambol Shroud out from one of the AK's.

"We found prototype weapons using Dust in many containers." One of the four White Fang Members said as he pointed at where they were at. "If we can get at least one container back to base, we can reverse-engineer it and be able to mass produce them on a wide scale."

Adam nodded as he looked over to Blake.

"See if you can find out if there is anything else worth looting from here." He said as Blake nodded. "The rest of you, grab as many containers as you can and-"

"You know, there are a lot of easier ways to get good weapons." A new voice cut Adam off as they turned to see a man in regular looking clothing, with a navy blue jacket and a black shirt with a skull on it leaning against the wall, before making his way to the center of the room. "Black Market, Blacksmiths, make your own, etc. I don't see any reason to steal from these guys."

Some of the grunts pulled out their weapons as Blake and Adam both looked at the man in either intrigue or caution. Meanwhile, the man didn't looked fazed by the weapons as he gave a careful look at them.

"So, this is what the White Fang has resorted to, huh?" The man said. "You know, if you are looking to get people to not view you guys as quote-unquote, animals, I don't think acting like them will do you any good." The man shook his head. "Well, on to business then. Which one of you is..." He pulled out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket. "... Adam Taurus?"

The grunts started moving around him as Adam moved up.

"That would be me." He said as the man chuckled.

"Good to know, don't want to get anymore unnecessary blood on my hands other then yours." The man commented as Adam gripped Blush a little harder. "The way I figured it, you're the reason why this whole movement got so violent. So, might as well get rid of the problem by weeding out the root."

"You've come to capture him?" Blake asked as she reached for Gambol Shroud. "Were you hired by the Schnees?"

The man gave a booming laughter as there were a few tears.

"H-h-hired by those greedy fucks? Pal, if they ever did approached me, I'd probably toss whatever payment they'd bring with them straight out a window." He said through his laughter. "And no, I'm not here to capture him. I'm here to kill him, someone's got to do the dirty work. Might as well be me."

"You do realize you're outnumbered here." Adam said as the man lost his smirk and took a serious look, unnerving some of the grunts and Blake.

"It's not always numbers. So, I'll be nice and give them a chance to walk away." He said glaring at them all. "Anyone still here after Stooge A-" He points at the White Fang grunt, who was the squad captain. "Hits the floor, is fair game. This is you're only warning. I only want Adam."

The group, though a bit reluctant, stood their ground as the man sighed.

"Hard way it is then." He said as he cracked his neck a bit. "Alright, let's get the grunts out of the way."

No soon then he said that, he pulled out his two cylindrical objects from out of his jacket sleeves into each of his hands. He pressed a button on each of them, just as the grunt he called Stooge A rushed at him with a sword. When he got close enough, the man turned around and kicked him in the chest, hard, before getting around him fast and putting the object in his hand against the back of his head.

*BANG!*

The sound was booming, as a bullet exited the front of the grunts forehead and broke through the Grimm mask. The group watched silently and in shock, and anger for one, as the man held the dead body of the man. The two of the grunts grouped together aimed their guns at the man and started firing at him. Reacting quickly, he pulled the dead body to face the two to sponge up the bullets as he took his other pistol and fired it thrice at the grunts. They both fell dead, nailed either in the head or twice in the chest. He dropped him with an audible thud, as pool of blood was forming around him. He aimed his pistol at the last grunt, who got the idea and started running.

"At least one of you had the right idea." He said holstering his pistols, but still on guard, as he turned to face Adam and Blake, who each respectively had a look of anger or horror. "So, anymore grunts you'd like to send my way Taurus. Or are you going to have the kid behind you fight me?"

Blake looked away from the bodies as she glared at the man.

"You killed them." She growled out as the man looked impassive.

"I gave them the option to back out." The man said. "I dislike unnecessary killing, but if it comes to it... Make no mistakes, kid, I will. Be thankful I don't kill kids."

"She's 17." Adam responded as he held Brush in a death grip.

"Still a kid until 18 to 21 in my book." He said non-chalantly. "Last chance to leave though, kid. Just because I won't kill you doesn't mean I won't beat you around a bit."

"Stay out of this Blake," Adam said, hearing enough. "He'll be done quickly."

He pressed a button as Wilt shot out from Brush, going straight for the man. Adam was about to start moving to retake his sword when it bounced off the man, when he quickly stepped to the side, grabbed the hilt of the sword, spun around once, and sent it flying straight at the ground, a couple of feet in front of Adam and Blake.

"Huh, I got to admit, that was pretty fast." He said to the on-guard Adam and surprised Blake. "This might actually be a challenge."

He took out the ammo cartridges from his pistol and placed them inside his jacket, before pulling out two different specialized ones. Above him, two lights were shining brightly, before they faded to show two purple Dust Crystals, falling down. He quickly aimed the cartridges so that they would fall inside them, and loaded them into their respective pistol. He took them back out as he pressed the same button again, transforming them into the two small cylindrical objects from before.

"So, are you going to pick up the sword?" He said as he pressed a button on them, as a purple light beam ignited from the hilt. "Or are you calling it quits already?"

Adam growled as he rushed forward fast, and grabbed his sword. At the same time, the man rushed at him at the same speed. Their blades clashed at the middle as they both gave each other glaring, serious expressions.

* * *

Present

* * *

"At the time, I didn't know anyone who could match Adam's speed or his swordplay." Blake said, telling the story to the partially stunned group. "He didn't earn his spot on the White Fang because of talking or votes, Adam is one of the strongest members. But the man, Skull... He matched his speed step by step, never giving an inch. Anytime Adam shot at him with Brush, he deflected the shoots and returned fire with his own pistol. Anytime he tried to hit slice him with Wilt, one of his lightswords would block and the other would swing at him, only to hit Brush."

"The lightswords... They're powered by Dust Crystals, aren't they?" Ruby commented as Blake nodded. "Well, we have a clue to who he might be then! He must have a large sum of Lien. Dust Crystals are among the priciest items of any Dust Corporation, not to mention that if in constant use, they will eventually wear out."

"Which means he must be a wealth figure, or at the very least a wealthy benefactor." Weiss continued as they perked up.

"I'd think that, too, but that's not the case here." Blake said as they all looked at her. "Adam questioned if he was being payed those crystals in return for his assassination. He denied it, saying he wasn't hired by anyone. But he also said he didn't need to be bribed with Dust Crystals, considering his Semblance allows him to create and detonate any type of Dust Crystals."

She let that sit with them for a moment before Weiss spoke up next.

"So that means, he can make any Dust Crystals possible, like fire, ice, and earth?"

"Possibly, I've only seen him create the two purple Crystals, energy, as well as a red fire one and a greyish blue steam one." She said. "But what makes him a rival of Adam is what he did when Adam used his semblance."

"I remember reading up on his semblance." Lilith said as the attention was on her. "The Specialist in Atlas called it 'Moonslice'. He can absorb energy based attacks and redirect it with his blade. He has been rumored to have completely incinerate a Spider Droid after absorbing its attack."

"He did, I saw him do it... It was right before I left." Blake said as they looked at her. "And you'd be correct. At the time, I thought Skull was playing right into Adam's hands, since he kept attacking Adam with Energy based attacks. But when Adam charged at him using his semblance to try and cut down the lightswords... Skull just grinned as he actually blocked the blade, getting knocked back a few feet, but otherwise, he and his swords were still okay. Then we realized that that's exactly what he wanted."

"His lightswords, when he uses energy, can also absorb attacks, although it's more like it absorbs damage to increase his own output." Blake explained, as Ruby started adding all the information in the board. "And that's not the scary part yet. He can do some type of slashing wave based on the type of Dust Crystal he uses. When he did a slash after absorbing Adam's strike, he destroyed a couple pillars keeping the building intact. It collapsed, seemingly taking him and Adam with him. After he absorbed the attack, Adam sent me out, so I was outside when I saw the slash. Adam survived the collapse, with small injuries. But we thought that Skull was crushed under the building, since we didn't see him get out. But when we turned we just saw him there, through the the treelines, with similar injuries to Adam. He smirked, and just gave us the two-finger salute before disappearing deeper into the forest. Since then, Adam and him have tangled a two more times before I left, each time they had to end because of circumstances."

"What are you trying to imply?" Lilith said curiously.

"... That none of us engage him unless we can get back-up." Blake finally said as some of them started protesting, but were cut off. "He took an attack that disintegrated a Spider Droid, and only came out stronger! We need to be careful when we go after him. We can't underestimate him."

"She's right." Lilith defended. "If this is true, he's certainly a threat. But we have some knowledge. And now you have two extra set of hands."

Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all looked at her confused, while Penny broke out in a grin.

"Yup. We are Combat Ready!" She said pumping out a fist as Lilith giggled a bit.

"Yes, well, she's not entirely false." Lilith noted. "Your Headmaster also privately requested that I help you out in any way that I can with... Huh, Skull. Never thought of that. The Specialist in the Atlesian Army just called him Wrecker after that one incident at a construction yard."

"Thank you." Weiss said politely. "I'm Weiss, by the way, Winter's younger sister."

"I can see the resemblance, she talks a lot about you." Lilith said as Weiss blushed slightly.

"You already know the dolt, Ruby." Weiss said, getting a 'Hey!' in response. "And over there is Blake."

Blake gave a short wave, which Lilith returned with a friendly one.

"Very well, nice to meet all of you." Lilith said smiling. "Atlesian Specialist Lilith Sevar, at your service."

* * *

 **V + J's Box of Author Notes**

 **And that's a wrap. Welcome back to the box. Now, we do have a few things to say, the first being Canderous and Adam. I specifically revolved Canderous to be a rival/equal to Adam. If you haven't noticed, I'm setting it up for specifics. Canderous and Adam, HK and Emerald, etc. If it seems that I'm overpowering an OC, it's probably because I'm trying to have him on equal ground with Adam.**

 ** _J: The next thing is what the board set up actually says. I made a list of things they've added. Every (...) shown is 1 item, underlined is recently added as of this chapter:_**

 ** _(Skull- Name Unknown)(Picture of the Pistol, .357 ammunition/ can be converted into a lightsword with Dust Crystals/Pistol can shoot Dust Rounds with Dust Crystals)(Semblance: Can spawn and detonate own Dust Crystals, limit unknown)(Equal against Adam Taurus)(Mainly fights against White Fang)(Regularly goes to Junior for updates on clients, won't disclose information on who, meeting his bar in 5 days)_**

 **Finally, yes. We added another OC, Lilith Sevar, otherwise known by now as Canderous's sister. First rule of anime, unless you see their body, there's a chance they aren't dead. We had this idea since chapter 3 so we decided to run with it.**

 ** _J: Also, have you guys see a story around FF called RWBY- Battles Between Two by MeteoriteCreature? If you haven't, it's basically a one vs. one tournament involving OC's. Why do I bring this up? Well, a certain self-proclaimed bodyguard might be making an appearance. Just thought we'd let you all know._**

 **See ya around,**

 **Vindex + _Jessica_**

 **Next Chapter: Winter Approaches**

 **Afterwards: Mute Confrontations**


	7. Announcement and Previews

**Hello everyone. Now, this isn't the Winter battle. It's not coming. Sorry, but, we can't get the words right on paper, so we're switching it up a bit with Qrow.**

 _ **J: And we thought, hey, why not share some of the battle with you guys. As well as a preview of another scene later in the story.**_

 **Also, remember that we mentioned before that we entered Canderous in a Fic where he's going to battle another OC? Well, MeteoriteCreature, Author of Battle Between Two, messaged me saying that Canderous is up next.**

 _ **J: We don't really know who he'll be fighting, but h** **ey, a good fight is good I guess.**_

 **So, preview time!**

* * *

 **A Qrow Strikes**

* * *

Qrow was running across the building tops, Canderous on the other side of the street, on top of that side's building as well. They were firing at each other, the bullets hitting each other in mid air as they erupted in fire. Growling, Canderous reached his left hand behind the right side of his jacket. He pulled out a second identical pistol, and aimed it at Qrow, firing both as he tried to dodge and shoot back at him. He got hit once or twice, but he eventually stopped in place to switch to his great sword, and started blocking the incoming bullets. Canderous stopped as well as he continued his volley.

Suddenly, Qrow descended into his shadow. Literally. He became one with it, as it started traveling towards Canderous, who paused momentarily due to the change. He resumed when he noticed it getting closer to him, and started shooting at it, missing as it edged closer to him. It reached up to arms length when Qrow sprang out from the shadow, sword raised upwards to cut him down the middle. Canderous jumped back to avoid the slash as it cost some of the building to crack under him. He aimed one of his pistols back at Qrow and started firing, only for Qrow to slice through them as he neared Canderous. Pulling out

* * *

Canderous narrowly ducked under the sword as he straightened himself out and nailed Qrow across the face with one of his guns physically. Qrow slightly flinched as he took a step back, only to stop while Canderous put some distance between them on top of the abandoned, torn and worn down building. Qrow turned his head back to him, with a glint in his eye. Canderous looked confused at the sudden change, before Qrow raised his sword upwards and brought it back down on top of the building, causing cracks. Canderous's eyes widened as Qrow turned back into his shadow and escaped as the building started to crumble. Canderous started to move so he could get off before it crumbled, only to be a second late as the floor gave away, taking him down with the building.

* * *

"So, enough games already, Qrow." Canderous said, smirking. "What do you say we kick this up a notch?"

He clicked a button on each of the pistols as gears were heard turning. The barrel of the pistol started moving upwards until both of the pistols were turned into metallic cylindrical sticks. He stuck the ends that were the butt of the pistols together and twisted it to make one single stick looking object.

Qrow just smiled as he started transforming his sword into his main weapon. The sword started to curve into an eclipse style blade. The blades started to turn as well so that the ending result of the transformation was a scythe.

"I'd say you'll need a lot more that some metal stick," Qrow said as the scythe extend outwards to complete the transformation. "If you want to take me on."

Canderous smirked as he placed both of his hands on it as if he was holding a staff.

"That would be true..." He said as he press two different buttons than from before, causing two yellow beams of light to extend from both ends. At the hilt of both blades, there was lightning erupting sporadically. "But this ain't your average weapon, old man."

Qrow and Canderous both dropped their smirks as they started moving in one giant circle, keeping eye contact and waiting for the right opportunity. This time, Canderous made the first move, dashing quickly towards Qrow and tried a quick slash to the chest. React quickly, he brought down his weapon to intercept his blade as both blades clashed. Qrow pushed the blade back and tried for a downward stab, only for Canderous to move to his right and slam the lightsword onto his abdomen. The result was Qrow getting knocked backwards with a mild shock to his system from where he was hit.

"Shocking, isn't it?" Canderous said jokingly.

* * *

 **Beacon Rumble**

* * *

Canderous looked around at his surroundings and took a sour look. Team JNPR, the rest of Yang's team, and that Penny girl from the tournament had him surrounded. And they all had their weapons drawn, pointed at him.

"... So much for avoiding violence..." He muttered as he glanced at all of them.

"You killed Yang... You killed my sister... You... You..." Ruby started to say as Canderous looked indifferent.

"I won't defend myself, it'll just give you way to much info." He said as he crossed his arms. "But there's a lot more to this then you think. You think she broke Mercury's leg just for kicks and giggles? There's a bigger fish out there than me."

"Then why kill her?" Ren asked as Canderous shook his head.

"Nope, too much info again." He said as he took a serious expression, causing them all to be on guard. "No matter what I say, you'll just attack me from here, so let's go straight to the point."

He turned his attention to Pyrrha, and grinned a bit.

"But first, do me a favor, Pyrrha." Canderous said as she narrowed his eyes. "Tell Ozzy that he better be sure he's protecting Amber properly, that fish I mentioned earlier has her eyes set on her."

Her eyes widened as Canderous sprung, dodging the fire from multiple guns.

* * *

 **V + J's Box of Author's Notes**

 **Welcome to the box! Now, we are sorry we haven't been updating this Fic as much, and we probably won't be able to as much.**

 ** _J: Let's just say, a drunken night between me and Vin has lead to me being pregnant, and now we have to deal with this._**

 **We'll try to get the battle out soon, but no promises.**


End file.
